U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/221,295, filed Aug. 7, 2008, and entitled Reciprocating Slat Conveyor With Moving Slats Between Fixed Slats discloses a conveyor which is in substance like the conveyor of this invention except for the construction of the fixed slats. The contents of Ser. No. 12/221,295 are incorporated herein.
Reciprocating slat conveyors comprise elongated conveyor slats which form the floor of a trailer or other container. One form of known reciprocating slat conveyor is composed of alternating fixed slats and intermediate movable slats. Typically, this type of conveyor has upwardly concave fixed slats and upwardly convex movable slats. Material deposited on the conveyor slats is moved by the movable slats. The material that is on the fixed slats between the movable slats is moved along with the material that is moved by the movable slats. The material between the movable slats becomes interlocked with the material on the movable slats, causing it to move with the material on the movable slats.
The fixed slats of the conveyor are installed first on a support structure and then the movable slats are installed on the fixed slats. There is a need for facilitating the procedure of mounting the fixed slats on the support structure, including the use of fasteners that can be installed from above. The primary object of the present invention is to fill these needs.